Dreams
by of the funsized variety
Summary: "He was turned away from her, facing a disguised man with a gun. Beckett's captor. "I love you," Castle said. Three gunshots sounded, and her world was again cloaked in darkness." Just a sweet taste of this oneshot..;


Hey people! Glad you decided to read! Anyway, I wrote this story over the summer, so a few details, like Josh being with Kate still, are now incorrect, but I was too lazy to go back and change my story accordingly, so whatever. DISCLAIMER:: me no own Castle … now read and PLEASE review afterward! Thanks

"_Lick the tape closest to your mouth, and then I'll peel the rest off," Castle nervously instructed. Beckett did as she was told, and after Castle ripped the duct tape off whilst Beckett grimacing, she quickly whispered, "I saw him go upstairs about 10 minutes ago, but he said he'd be back to finish me off. We have to get out of here." Castle pulled his pocket knife out of the toe of his shoe and began swiftly working on the ropes that bound the detective to the chair. He cut through them in a few minutes, and then quickly untied her ankles and wrists. Once freed, Beckett hugged Castle tightly and breathed a quick thank you, then proceeded to scour the room for a way out. The occurrence was over so quickly that he thought that he'd imagined it._

"_A window," Beckett softly exclaimed. It was blacked out, and seeing as how the room was cast in pitch darkness, he had no idea how Beckett had found it. She pointed towards the chair and motioned for Castle to bring it over. He followed the sound of her voice until accidentally hitting Beckett with the chair before setting it down right next to her. There was a brief bickering over who was to go first- each saying the other should go, until Castle shoved Beckett towards the chair and she finally gave in. The sooner they got out, the sooner this would all be over. She felt around while standing on the chair until she found the lock, then shielded her eyes to the blinding light that shown through the open window._

_She swiftly hoisted herself out the window then turned to make sure Castle wasn't having trouble. He was turned away from her, facing a disguised man with a gun. Beckett's captor. "I love you," Castle said. Three gunshots sounded, and her world was again cloaked in darkness._

**Beckett gasped awake, and realized she was shaking. She took a deep breath and turned on her side, only to realize these weren't the surroundings she was used to. She was in Castle's bedroom, and more importantly, his bed. Beckett panicked even more after realizing her clothes were nowhere to be found. Precisely following that moment, Castle strolled into the room, also without clothing, and asked Beckett in a husky voice, "Ready for another round of cop and robber?" He climbed into bed with her, and Beckett was freaking out, but for some reason found herself completely lenient to his touch. Just as he began to kiss her, Castle suddenly pulled back and glared at Beckett. "I won't wait forever. I have hundreds of others willing to love me, and the only thing I have to do is walk away from you." Castle stood and walked out of the room, but before shutting the door behind him, he whispered, "I gave you so many chances. I'm tired of being turned down. "**

This time Kate really did wake up, and to make sure, she got out of bed and tip-toed into the kitchen to get a glass of water. This is why she hated sleep. The only dreams she had anymore were nightmares, all either involving her mother's murder or scenarios in which Castle more or less left her. Kate hated that Castle wouldn't leave her alone, even in her unconscious state of mind. He followed her into her dreams, and would either die or just get tired of waiting around for her. And these dreams tore Kate apart from the inside out. She was having trouble dealing with the emotions that immediately attacked her every time she woke up from a nightmare involving Castle. She knew now that she was in love with him, as she'd known ever since they nearly died together in the freezer. She was simply afraid to tell him, scared of being shut out, or turned down, or feeling humiliated. Even though she figured that her fear was bordering on a phobia, since it was relatively irrational. Kate knew that Castle loved her, even if he wasn't _in love _with her. She had become a regular part of his life, as much so as Alexis and Martha. If she were to admit her feelings, and Castle didn't return them, he would let her down as gently as he possibly could, and then suggest that they go out for ice cream, or to Remy's. Kate knew all of these things, but she still couldn't bring herself to take the risk.

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_Castle stood in front of Kate's apartment door, about to knock on it. He had waited long enough to tell her the truth, and she deserved it. Even though he had told her when she had gotten shot, Castle now suspected that her then unconscious state was to blame for her lack of addressing the situation all this time later. As he knocked, he was suddenly overwhelmed with every time he had almost lost her. Every gun fight and brawl, after he reopened her mother's case, when her apartment blew up, when they nearly froze to death together, before he had pulled the wires out to disarm that bomb, last year when she was shot at Montgomery's funeral, and to various boyfriends. Suddenly, he was back to reality, standing before Beckett's loft door, which was now open. But instead of the lovely detective, Josh was standing there, motioning Castle to come in. Castle did exactly that, but was now unsure of what to do. He hadn't been expecting Josh to be here. Castle had just assumed that he would be at the hospital or in Africa. _

_ Castle took a seat on Beckett's couch and was about to ask Josh where she was when she appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked stunning, per usual, but this time there was something about her that made her even more beautiful than she typically was. He found it. She was smiling, a truly carefree smile, and Castle was now curious as to what had caused this breath-taking smile to flaunt itself across Kate's face. Once she made her way down the steps, she greeted Castle and held her left hand out for him to view. An engagement ring._

Castle jolted awake and sat up quickly. He ran his fingers through his bed head mop and sighed, discontent and fear being his currently dominating emotions. That was, quite possibly, one of the most horrifying nightmares he had ever had. Rick had no idea how he would live with himself if his procrastinating caused him to lose the love of his life. He had to tell her. The only question now would be how exactly.

Rick found himself at Kate's loft doorstep two hours later. This time, though, he was actually there, rather than dreaming. It was an ungodly hour, sometime after 2am, but he had called Kate and told her that there was something important he wanted to talk to her about. He rang the doorbell, and to his great relief, Kate answered the door, rather than her boyfriend. "I feel a little bad about taking away from your sleep, especially since you already deprive yourself of it," Castle apologized as he made his way to Kate's couch." "Don't worry about it, Castle, I was already awake when you called," she replied. "Really? Why?" "I was having nightmares." "What about?" "I don't want to talk about it." Kate figured Castle would give her crap about him being in her dreams if she'd told him. "So they were about your mother?" "No! You must be stuck in your own stupid little ego bubble still if you haven't figured it out by now." The dream Castle leaving her constantly was toying with her and she was taking those emotions out on the real Castle. "Haven't figured what out?" Rick was really confused and a bit worried about Kate. She got pissed at him often, but never so irrationally and never without him having no idea what he'd done to make her so angry. "That I'm in love with you!" Kate finally screamed at him, before abruptly closing her mouth and turning her back to him.

Rick had no idea what to do. That wasn't at all what he was expecting Kate to say, and she obviously hadn't expected she would say it either. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her back around so he could look into her eyes. "Are you serious?" Rick asked, trying to withhold the hope and eagerness he was feeling, and failing miserably. "Yes," Kate whispered. A smile she had seen only a handful of times on him spread across his face, giving the impression that he was not happy with life until that very moment. "I'm in love with you, too," Rick said, before asking, "Would it be okay if I kissed you right now? "Kate had tears of relief rolling across her beautiful features, and she was having trouble speaking, so she only nodded her head in response to Rick.

Everything they had been through together since they'd met- saving each other's lives countless times, becoming different people, sharing inside jokes and coffee breaks, yelling together, laughing together, grieving together, and everything they hadn't said to each other- all of that was packed tightly into the kiss that followed. Kate had no words for the moments that proceeded that kiss, that passionate, overwhelming, long-awaited kiss. She had only a small, crooked smile splashed onto her lips. The single word that sputtered from Rick's ear-to-ear grin was "Finally." 

Bleh. I feel like the ending was way too fluffy. Review please… I can't decide if I love this story or despise it.


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